Melbourne (pictured) placed 11th on the index, topping APAC. Photo Credit: Adobe Stock/Jt Media/Wirestock Creators
Four APAC destinations ranked in the top 20 of an index assessing destinations’ sustainability efforts related to meetings, events and tourism, while Adelaide was named most improved.
In the 2025 GDS (Global Destination Sustainability)-Index. Melbourne led APAC in 11th place globally, followed by Singapore (13th), Goyang, South Korea (15th), and Brisbane (16th).
A further three APAC destinations made the global top 40: Sydney (25th), Songkhla, Thailand (28th), and Kumamoto, Japan (33rd).
Adelaide, which placed 54th overall, was named most improved destination in only its second year of participation, jumping 23 places from last year.
According to the GDS-Index, contributing factors to its rise include “notable increases” in circular economy initiatives and food waste reduction in hotels and restaurants, along with Adelaide Airport achieving carbon neutrality for direct emissions (excluding flights), the first in Australia to achieve this.
The GDS-Index was originally created for the meetings and events industry; since 2020, it has integrated leisure tourism into the criteria.
Benchmarking considers four areas of performance: environmental, social, supplier and destination management, examining criteria such as the uptake of sustainability certification across event venues, DMOs efforts with regards to legacy programmes for events and the commitment of the local meetings and tourism industry supply chain.
The top five cities in this year's Index are Helsinki, Gothenburg, Copenhagen, Aalborg and Glasgow.